This article was published on April 18, 2024. This article was last updated April 23, 2026.
Oops! Let's see if we can resolve the 404 or unexpected error with one of these solutions. This article covers:
- Flint's status page
- Why you may see a 404 error
- How to handle unexpected errors
- File upload errors
- Speech-to-text errors
- How to contact support
Flint's status page
If you're experiencing issues using Flint, the first step is to confirm whether the problem is specific to your account or part of a larger outage.
You can always check Flint's Status Center to see the real-time health of our platform. The status center shows the operational status for all of our services, including:
- Incident reports describing any partial outages, degraded performance, or disruptions.
- Maintenance updates with scheduled downtime or system upgrades.
- Historical uptime data so you can review past incidents and resolutions.
- Real-time updates as our engineering team works on resolving any issues.
You can also subscribe to updates by clicking the "Subscribe to Updates" button.
If the Status Center shows "All Systems Operational" and you're still having trouble, the issue is most likely specific to your account, device, or network. In that case, follow the next troubleshooting steps in this guide 👇
Why you may see a 404 error
For details on supported file types and size limits, see Uploading content to Flint.
Check to make sure you have access to the class, tutor, or session they are trying to access using a link. Not having permission will lead to a 404 error. Reach out to an owner of the class, tutor, or session to be granted access.
A common example of a permission error is a tutor, class, or session being set to private and not all users being invited to it individually. We suggest changing the sharing setting to unlisted. See more on access permissions in Flint.
Typos in URLs can lead to 404 errors. An example can be adding or removing a character from the domain name. If a school's domain is a-b.flintk12.com but you try to access ab.flintk12.com, you will encounter a 404 error.
Also make sure that the entire URL is copied. If the last few characters are missing from the URL, you will likely face a 404 error.
Sometimes, browsers cache a 404 web page for a certain URL, even after the permission issues mentioned above have been fixed. If this is the case, clearing the cache should help with seeing the web page.
If there was a permission or URL issue before, to confirm that there isn't an issue still now, try using a different web browser. A different web browser usually will not have anything cached, which can help with confirming whether things are fixed.
Our recommended browser for Flint is Chrome for MacOS or Windows.
How to handle unexpected errors
The most common cause of unexpected errors, particularly on iPad, is an outdated web browser. Try upgrading your Safari or Chrome to the latest version if possible.
This message means Flint is mid-deployment or undergoing a brief maintenance window. Unlike a full outage, the Status Center at status.flintk12.com may still show "All Systems Operational" while this is happening — so do not be alarmed if the two don't match.
What to do:
- Wait 2–5 minutes, then refresh the page and try again.
- Do not switch browsers or clear your cache — this is a temporary platform state, not a device or cache problem.
- If the message persists after 10 minutes, click "Learn more about Flint" → "Help" in the lower-left corner to contact our team.
Sparky is powered by Anthropic, an external AI provider. If Sparky stops responding — returning errors or giving no reply at all — even though status.flintk12.com shows everything is operational, the cause may be an outage at Anthropic that has not yet been reflected on Flint's status page.
What to do:
- Check Anthropic's status page at status.anthropic.com to see if there is an active incident.
- If an Anthropic incident is listed, wait for it to resolve — there is no local fix available during a provider outage.
- If Anthropic's status is clear, try refreshing the page or starting a new chat session.
- If the issue continues, contact support via the in-app Help button.
File upload errors
Large files may take several minutes to process. You can still send your message while the file is being read — Sparky will access the content once processing completes.
If a file has been processing for more than 10 minutes, try:
- Clicking the "Retry" button on the content card
- Removing the file and re-uploading it
- Splitting large PDFs into smaller sections
If you see an error message on your uploaded content, it usually means:
- File too large: The file exceeds your plan's content limit. Try uploading a smaller portion of the content.
- Unsupported format: Flint currently supports the following file types:
- Documents: PDF, DOC, DOCX, PPT, PPTX (via Replicate Marker)
- Spreadsheets: CSV, XLS, XLSX, XLTX (plus PPSX)
- Images: JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, WEBP, HEIC, HEIF
- Audio/Video: MP3, MP4, MPEG, MPGA, M4A, WAV, WEBM
- Office/Other: ODT, RTF, Pages, Key, Numbers, PUB, EPS, PSD, TIF, TIFF, AI, etc.
- Code/Text: All major programming language extensions, TXT, SVG
- Processing failed: Click "Retry" to try again. If it continues to fail, try a different file format.
Lost or missing work
If your session data, uploaded files, or activity work isn't visible, here is what to check:
- Check archived sessions first. Go to your activity → Sessions → open the dropdown → Archived sessions. Also check My profile → My sessions → My archived sessions. Archived items appear last in search results, so scroll down.
- Check that you're in the correct term or school location in the top-left corner. Work from a previous term or a different school will not appear in the current view. Click your school name in the top-left corner to switch terms.
- Autosave is not yet fully automatic for all session types. If your browser closed unexpectedly or you navigated away before uploads finished processing, that work may not have been saved. We recommend periodically checking that your uploads appear in the session before closing the browser, and avoiding closing the tab mid-upload.
Speech-to-text errors
Trouble recording spoken responses for Flint is often the result of microphone access permissions in either your browser or device settings.
If you have not already, make sure speech features are enabled for your activity and that Flint supports the language you are using. Flint currently only supports speech-to-text in English.
When using Flint's speaking feature for the first time, your browser may ask if the app.flintk12.com site can use your microphone. Make sure to allow use of your microphone every time you visit the Flint website.
If the pop-up doesn't appear automatically, you should check that the microphone access is allowed for your specific browser.
For some Safari users, you may need to enable speech recognition. On your Apple device, go to your Settings, then Privacy and Security, and then Speech Recognition.
Make sure the speech recognition for Safari is enabled.
Activity and feature-specific issues
Still having problems? Chat with us.
Click on "Learn more about Flint" in the lower-left corner, then click "Help". We are happy to help!
